Fire drill (to pull or not)

Is it required that we actually pull the fire alarm during our quarterly fire drills at an ambulatory surgery center? (of course notifying building occupants and fire marshal first). I have found conflicting information on this. I have looked up requirements in CMS ad NFPA, as well as AAAHC. Advice? April

CMS follows closely with the requirements of the 2012 NFPA 101 for existing ambulatory health care occupancies for an ambulatory surgical center.

Excerpt from the 2012 NFPA 101:

The "transmission of a fire alarm signal" is the activation of the fire alarm system's notification appliances in the building and the automatic transmission of the alarm signal to the fire department through a remote monitoring station (central station in most cases). Document the dates and for the times the alarm was activated and times received by fire department for the alarms were transmitted for the drills. They must be kept in your fire safety records for examination by CMS. This should be coordinated with the drill supervisor and the fire department without involving the monitoring station. The alarm signal must go through the system to the fire department without their notice or intervention.

If the time period from activation to receiving by the fire department is more than 3 minutes, the fire alarm system is not in compliance with NFPA 72. If that occurs during a drill the corrective actions taken must be in the fire safety records.

you input was greatly appreciated. I have passed it on to the staff member at our facility in charge of fire safety, as well as encouraged her to become a member of this community. Again, thanks for the help!